Dante
Dante is the protagonist and author of the Commedia. Importantly, many commentators distinguish between his position as an author (often called Dante the poet) and his position as protagonist (often called Dante the pilgrim). While Dante the poet writes from a point in time after his spiritual transformation, the Commedia follows Dante the pilgrim as he goes on a spiritual (and literal) journey. In the Paradiso, Dante the pilgrim ascends through the spheres of heaven with Beatrice, meeting figures like Thomas Aquinas and Dante's ancestor Cacciaguida. His intellectual being is continually reshaped, and in the end of the poem, he is able to see God. Yet, all the while, Dante the poet struggles both to call this journey up in memory and to describe it in words.
Beatrice
Beatrice is Dante's beloved and his guide through the spheres of heaven. As she prods him, fields his doubts, and reshapes his intellect, she grows more and more beautiful, able to show more of her true, spiritual form. In the final cantos, she leaves Dante and takes a privileged place alongside Mary and other women of biblical virtue.
Emperor Justinian
Justinian was a Christian Roman emperor during his lifetime. Found on Mercury, the second sphere of heaven, he provides a history of Rome and discusses the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. In Dante's political thinking, he establishes an important connection between Roman Imperialism and Christian Providence.
The Eagle
The eagle appears in the sphere of Jupiter and, though it speaks as one voice, is comprised of many of the souls of Jupiter, which form together into a sort of constellation and speak together. Being a symbol of power and empire, the eagle is made up of militant but "just" leaders, and it responds to Dante's questions about justice.
Thomas Aquinas (or Thomas of Aquino)
Aquinas is in the fourth sphere of heaven, the Sun, alongside other especially wise souls. In life, he was a renowned theologian and a saint. He commands the attention of everyone in the Sun. He tells Dante the narrative of St. Francis of Assisi's life and marriage to poverty and responds to Dante's questions.
God
In a strange way, it may be a mistake to call God a "character" in the Paradiso at all. Though he is a persistent presence and his light and love suffuse the heavens, he is neither anthropomorphic nor easy to describe. Sitting at the center of the universe as the unmoved force that moves everything, represented as three rings reflecting into one another, Dante sees him only in the final canto.
Caccuiguida
First mentioned in the Purgatorio, Cacciaguida is Dante's venerated great-great-grandfather. He appears to Dante in the fifth sphere of heaven, Mars, and he informs Dante about his ancestry, Florentine history, and the changes that Florentine families have undergone. He also plainly interprets the prophecy of Dante's exile from the Purgatorio.
Apostle Peter
In the eighth sphere of heaven, the starry sphere, Peter is summoned by Beatrice to speak with Dante. When prompted, he interrogates Dante, asking acute theological questions and questions concerning his faith. Peter, considered by Catholics to be the first pope, angrily denounces those who have taken his "place" and corrupted it.
Adam
Adam appears in the eighth sphere of heave, the starry sphere. There, he has been completely redeemed from original sin, and he answers Dante's questions concerning the fall, the garden of Eden, and his original language.
Saint Bernard
In the Empyrean sphere, Dante turns to find Beatrice missing. He sees Saint Bernard, an elder in the divine church, in her place. Bernard prays to the Virgin Mary for assistance and then leads Dante in the final stages of his journey.
Mary
Although, as in the Purgatorio, Mary does not speak, she remains an important presence, and she takes a central role in the final few cantos. There, she embodies virtue and beauty, and it is she who gives Dante the capacity to rise higher and thus to experience greater divinity in the vision of God.
